Robert A. Segal
Nowadays it is axiomatic to dismiss concepts like 'religion' as mere constructions, and constructions employed for self-serving ends. Daniel Dubuisson's book, newly translated from the French, is not merely one more in this line. His is the richest, broadest dissection to date of at once the origin, the function, and the meaning of the term. Above all, he demonstrates the grip the term has held over scholars, even in their disputes with one another. If, after all the arguments amassed by Dubuisson, the term remains defensible, a 'dream team' defense will be needed. Dubuisson's work is written with a passion and an intensity that seem barely containable.
Dean A. Miller
This is an important and provocative book, written with sharp, surgical prose, lucid argument and high spirit. Daniel Dubuisson's essential theoretical and critical enquiry constitutes a complete critical overview of the 'history of religion' as a concept, and, more ambitiously, a reconstruction of the very heart of our notion of 'religion' itself. Few people in this field have undertaken quite such a program of redefinition, and in my opinion no one involved in the scholarship of the history of religions can afford to ignore this book.
From the Publisher
Nowadays it is axiomatic to dismiss concepts like 'religion' as mere constructions, and constructions employed for self-serving ends. Daniel Dubuisson's book, newly translated from the French, is not merely one more in this line. His is the richest, broadest dissection to date of at once the origin, the function, and the meaning of the term. Above all, he demonstrates the grip the term has held over scholars, even in their disputes with one another. If, after all the arguments amassed by Dubuisson, the term remains defensible, a 'dream team' defense will be needed. Dubuisson's work is written with a passion and an intensity that seem barely containable.—Robert A. Segal, University of Lancaster
This is an important and provocative book, written with sharp, surgical prose, lucid argument and high spirit. Daniel Dubuisson's essential theoretical and critical enquiry constitutes a complete critical overview of the 'history of religion' as a concept, and, more ambitiously, a reconstruction of the very heart of our notion of 'religion' itself. Few people in this field have undertaken quite such a program of redefinition, and in my opinion no one involved in the scholarship of the history of religions can afford to ignore this book.—Dean A. Miller, University of Rochester
